The present invention relates to image rendering techniques for an apparatus which reproduces digital contents multiplexing a plurality of contents having different information, and more particularly to image rendering techniques for reproduction control of digital contents by using user operation interfaces.
A conventional digital broadcasting compatible HDD/DVD decoder which is a digital content reproduction apparatus requires, in addition to channel tuning, reproduction control keys for linear contents such as video and audio, the keys including “reproduce”, “stop”, “fast forward”, “fast backward”, “temporary stop” and other operation keys. The apparatus further requires “up”, “down”, “right”, “left”, “decide” and four-color keys for operation control of data broadcasting. In order to deal with all functions, a number of remote keys are required. It takes learning time in order for a user master an operation method, or there is an issue of not easy to use.
As described in JP-A-2005-73022, there is known a broadcast receiving apparatus which provides a user with illumination of a usable key of a remote controller in accordance with information on digital contents. Typical apparatus which perform reproduction control by graphical user interface (GUI) digital include a digital broadcasting compatible personal computer and a DVD reproduction compatible personal computer. In these apparatus, reproduction keys for linear contents and interactive contents are displayed on a screen and unusable keys are disabled so that it is possible to improve user easy to use performance. However, in order to display all keys, a large panel rendering area is required. Since linear contents and interactive contents are multiplexed and transmitted for digital broadcasting, these contents are also recorded in a multiplexed state.